Wednesday, October 5, 2011

On litter (Or, why I often walk my dogs in neighborhoods other than Brightwood)

I often walk my dogs in neighborhoods other than Brightwood. Mainly for a change of scenery, but (depending on which neighborhood we visit) with the added benefit of having less litter to deal with on the streets. It’s awfully hard to have a peaceful dog walk when the creatures want to stop every few feet to sniff and/or munch on discarded chicken bones, candy wrappers, yogurt cups, half-eaten bags of potato chips...you name it, I’ve encountered it on the streets of Brightwood, and constantly having to deter my dogs from swallowing these items isn’t fun.

We walked through Shepherd Park last night. The yards and streets are visibly cleaner than (many of) the yards and streets in nearby Brightwood. But the absence of litter only made what was there more glaringly conspicuous: specifically, dog poop. I lost count of how many piles of it we came across on our mile-and-a-half-long walk.

The Alice Ferguson Foundation conducted a study of why people litter. The main takeaway was that people who chronically litter do it for convenience’s sake; an item’s usefulness has passed, so the person tosses it away as soon as possible instead of waiting to find a trash receptacle. But the study also found that people generally refrain from littering in their personal spaces; they won’t toss litter in front of their own yards, for example. Often, chronic litterers don’t see the greater community (i.e. their neighborhoods) as part of their “personal spaces”, therefore they see littering on the next block as excusable.

I was thinking about that study as I walked through Shepherd Park’s nearly-immaculate-except-for-the-dog-poop streets. It made me wonder why it seems to be unacceptable to litter in Shepherd Park, yet it looks like it’s acceptable to not pick up after your dog. I would think that people who show they care about their communities by not littering would also be inclined to pick up after their dogs. Leaving dog poop behind is very much a form of littering, after all.

At least Shepherd Park is on the right track; I hope that since its residents already seem to be concerned with keeping their neighborhood clean, it might not be as hard to get people into the habit of picking up after their dogs. Brightwood, unfortunately, has a much further way to go.

14 comments:

Agree that there are some blocks that are cleaner than others. But I assume that's the result of the homeowners on those blocks being very diligent about cleaning up whatever junk appears in front of their yards, not because people are choosing not to litter on those blocks.

Which brings up another interesting point that the Alice Ferguson study made: some of the chronic litterers who were part of the focus group justified their actions by claiming that their littering gave people something to do! They cited neighborhood clean-up days as being "fun" activities in which the clean-up participants "look like they're having a good time", and claimed that DPW should clean up after the messes they leave behind since they pay so much in taxes. It's a vicious cycle.

Where have you been walking? Most blocks are clean and the owners take great pride in keeping their property and other areas cleaned. It may be true that on the main streets, such as 14th, there is more litter, probably due to passers -by and over flowing trash receptacles. How dare you generalize about the residents of any neighbor hood....

Agree all blocks are not the same. Some are well kept and very clean. But in GENERAL, garbage, dog poop, and half-eaten chicken bones (and shrimp and crab shells) are a CONSTANT problem on our block and the three surrounding. Almost daily we are picking up the sidewalk and street area in front of our home. There is a tire planter that is consistently full of liquor bottles and junk food wrappers. A couple weeks ago I filled two large kitchen garbage bags with bottles and other garbage from that planter--all while the very people who left it there stood and watched. Soda bottles and wrappers are often left on our retaining wall.

Your opening paragraph generalized Brightwood. Where we live in Brightwood, there is no litter, chicken bones, candy wrappers etc. So you can have a peaceful dog walk. We are not feeling you and this post...it is wrong and offensive.

I agree with you, Anonymous. Where I live the litter is rare. Further, the generalization of Brightwood is wrong and offensive. if you have a major problem in your block then say at the start and not after you have been called on your remarks. Further, if you feel there is a problem, address it with your ANC or Ms Bowser's office, instead of whining on a blog. be proactive and not reactive...

I have never walked in Brightwood but I would agree with the OP that some areas have better litter-free streets. Maybe someone could work on getting more trashcans and something I'm a fan of - dog waste bags/trashcans.

I walk my dog around the Ft Stevens Rec Center, 14th Street, and the various side streets between GA Ave and 16th. Some are hit and miss in terms of cleanliness. I've started bringing a grocery bag with me once a week to clean litter, but it's filled pretty quickly. I'll have to start bringing a full-size trash bag. It's just so discouraging when I spend the time to clean up after other people and the next week it's all back.